For these sailors, preparing for Olympics a full-time job

Sarah Lihan and Paige Railey both accomplished their goals of qualifying to sail in the 2012 Olympics, but that achievement is now forgotten as they zero in on their newest goals.

"That chapter of my sailing is closed," said Railey after winning the Laser Radial North Americans at Lauderdale Yacht Club last weekend. "Now I'm focused on what I have to do to win a gold medal."

Railey, 24, of Clearwater, earned the Olympic berth for the United States in the Laser Radial at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Australia in December.

Lihan, 23, of Fort Lauderdale, and skipper Amanda Clark, 29, of Shelter Island, N.Y., qualified a week later at the same event in the women's 470 class. They came from behind to secure the Olympic berth in heart-stopping fashion, clinching a trip to the London Games on the last leg of the final race of the regatta.

Since then, Lihan has been working full-time as she and Clark prepare for the Olympics.

"We're in the gym, we're on the water, we're on the computer fundraising," said Lihan, who grew up sailing in the LYC youth program and went on to become an All-American at Yale University. "I don't think one day goes by when we're not working on the Olympics."

"Everything is based around the Olympics," said Railey, who sailed for the University of South Florida. "You re-evaluate everything: The way that you live your life, the way you're eating, your relationships, the way you're sailing.

"Before, I was training really hard. Now it's even more focused. We're talking 4 1/2-8 1/2 hours of training a day. And that doesn't include rigging the boat and traveling to the yacht club."

Lihan is working with Clark and coach Udi Gal, a two-time Olympic 470 sailor for Israel.

Clark competed in the 2008 Games, and when her crew retired last year, she asked Lihan, who was racing a Laser Radial, to crew for her. Last Sunday was the one-year anniversary of them sailing together.

In addition to working on her strength, speed and flexibility in the gym, Lihan sails for hours with Clark and watches video of those practice sessions.

"It's not unusual to spend 5-6 hours on the water because we have to get used to each other," said Lihan, who also spends hours tweaking the boat. "Boatwork is one of my least-favorite words in the English language. We'll spend an hour to move a cleat a half an inch. We play with a lot of different combinations."

Lihan and Railey, who will both be honored Feb. 21 at LYC, will head to Europe to sail in several regattas leading up to the Olympics. When they're not competing against top sailors, they'll keep working to be the world's best sailors.

"I think I get maybe 20 days off in the next seven months," Railey said. "Sometimes the couch feels so good."

But it feels even better when you're sitting on it while holding an Olympic gold medal.

Follow Lihan's Olympic journey at teamgosail.org and on Facebook and Twitter at teamgosail. Keep track of Railey at paigerailey.com, paige railey on Facebook and paigesailor on twitter.